Debates of Oct. 10th, 1997

Foreign Affairs

[Some hon. members]

Good question.

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her timely and well placed question.

I am very pleased to tell the House that I received a written communiqué from the minister of foreign affairs of Israel this morning, first apologizing for the fact that any misuse of our passports may have caused inconvenience or problems of safety for any Canadian citizen and, second, agreeing that Israel will now undertake measures to ensure it will never happen again.

Crtc

[Jim Pankiw, Reform, Saskatoon—Humboldt, SK]

Mr. Speaker, last Friday I raised concern that the CRTC violated its own guidelines by awarding a wireless cable broadcasting licence to a telephone monopoly, Teleglobe's Look TV.

The Minister of Canadian Heritage not only avoided my question but displayed a profound lack of intellectual capacity by suggesting that I was somehow in contempt of court.

I would like a sensible answer directly from the Minister of Industry. Why does the Liberal government condone the CRTC violating its own guidelines? Does the government want more power for monopolies or less choice for consumers?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, I am sure the hon. member has respect for process as do all members of the House.

There are processes involved in hearing applications for licensing where some of the allegations of the nature he has made are present. They can be adjudicated by the courts where there are disagreements on policy or other grounds. There is an appeal to the governor in council and I am sure he respects that process.

The Environment

[René Laurin, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of the Environment.

Twenty-four years after the Irving Whale went down in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the people of the Magdalen Islands are still waiting for a proper decontamination of the floor of the Gulf of St. Lawrence polluted by 150 kilograms of PCBs.

When will the minister deign to listen to the watchdog committees, including that of the Magdalen Islands, that are calling for action to deal once and for all with what the government itself is calling a time bomb.

[Karen Kraft Sloan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, the minister has been working with the people in the area. She has had consultations. It was as a result of the consultations that the Irving Whale was lifted to avoid a terrible environmental disaster.

Individual Member's Expenditures

[The Deputy Speaker]

I have the honour to table the document entitled “Individual Member's Expenditures for the Fiscal Year 1996/97”.

Order In Council Appointments

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table, in both official languages, a number of order in council appointments which were made by the government.

Pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order 110(1) these are deemed referred to the appropriate standing committees, a list of which is attached.

Committees Of The House

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present the third report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding the associate membership of some committees.

If the House gives its consent, I intend to move concurrence in the third report later this day.

Standing Orders

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I believe that you would find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move:

That Standing Order 95 be deleted and the following substituted therefor:

(1) When an item of Private Members' Business that is votable is under consideration, no Member shall speak for more than ten minutes, provided that the Member moving the item may speak for not more than twenty minutes.

(2) When an item of Private Members' Business that is not votable is under consideration, no Member shall speak for more than ten minutes, provided that the Member moving the item may speak for not more than fifteen minutes and provided that the said Member may, if he or she chooses, speak again for not more than five minutes, commencing five minutes before the conclusion of the hour during which the said item is to be considered.

This is an amendment to the standing orders.

(Motion agreed to)

Committees Of The House

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

moved:

That the Standing Committee on Finance be permitted to adjourn from place to place within Canada during its proceedings pursuant to Standing Order 83(1), and that the necessary staff do accompany the committee.

(Motion agreed to)

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I move that the third report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, presented to the House earlier this day, be concurred in.

(Motion agreed to)

Petitions

[Raymond Bonin, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions from my constituents asking the minister responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to immediately suspend negotiations on social housing with the province of Ontario and to resume negotiations only if the minister proceeds under publicly declared principles established with the input of co-operative housing stakeholders.

[Chuck Strahl, Reform, Fraser Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have several petitions to present to the House. These names are in addition to the many on petitions that I have already presented in the House.

The first petition indicates that the petitioners are against the conditional sentencing provisions put forward in the last Parliament.

[Chuck Strahl, Reform, Fraser Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is signed by some 234 people who support my private member's bill against the joy riding provisions of the Criminal Code.

[Chuck Strahl, Reform, Fraser Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the third petition concerns the government's treatment of herbal remedies. I support the petition.

[Chuck Strahl, Reform, Fraser Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have now presented to the House a total of 34,000 names on petitions regarding sexual offences, about the way sex offenders are supervised and the way their records are kept.

This is the largest petition I have had to date on that subject.

[Chuck Strahl, Reform, Fraser Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have other petitions which I wish to present regarding the UN convention on the rights of the child.

I am happy to table these petitions on behalf of my constituents.

[Nick Discepola, Liberal, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to present three petitions, two of which deal with the upgrading of the national highway system.

[Nick Discepola, Liberal, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a petition regarding Canadian unity.

The petitioners call for the indivisibility of Canada. They say that the boundaries of Canada, its provinces, its territories and waters may be modified only through a free vote of all Canadian citizens, as guaranteed by the charter of rights and freedoms or through an amending formula, as stipulated in the Canadian Constitution.

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise pursuant to Standing Order 36 to present a number of petitions on behalf of the residents of the city of Kamloops and a number of surrounding communities.

The first petition deals with a concern of constituents regarding our present tax system. I do not want to go through the long list, but they point out half a dozen areas of major concern in its unfairness, its bias and so on.

The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to undertake a fair tax reform process so that consumers do not continue to suffer financial security and unfair costs at this point in time.

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have another petition which I wish to present.

The petition is signed by a long list of students at the University College of the Cariboo who point out that the government is presently taxing reading materials. They believe the 7% GST on reading materials to be unfair, unjust, wrong, stupid, dumb, and the list continues. Actually they do not use the words stupid and dumb, but that is what they are saying.

The students quote Newfoundlander Brian Tobin, who says “It is a violation of the concept of freedom of speech to tax the written word, to tax the ability of people to communicate with each other”. They simply agree with Mr. Tobin on that point.

They ask that the government come to its senses and back off from taxing reading materials.

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

The third petition concerns the increase in gas prices. I notice gas prices in this part of Canada are on the increase.

The petitioners ask the federal government to step in and establish a board to oversee the price of fuels, recognizing that Canada is a northern country and the cost of fuel is factored into the cost of living for every Canadian citizen.

They also suggest that the government give some consideration to Canada's crumbling national highways.

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Finally, Mr. Speaker, petitioners are concerned about the debt load faced by students. They point out that students graduating from university on average have a debt load of $25,000.

Considering that so many young people have a difficult time finding employment, particularly employment at a decent salary, to enter their working life with this kind of debt load is wrong. They ask the government to give more consideration to changing the Canada student loan program and to coming up with a number of programs to support students.

As a personal comment, perhaps this is the time to consider doing away with tuition fees as many other countries have done in an effort to provide equal access for all students regardless of their level of income.

[Jerry Pickard, Liberal, Kent—Essex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by several residents in my riding asking that the federal government work along with the provinces to upgrade the highway system in Canada.